


Take Flight

by Starrie_Wolf



Category: Bleach
Genre: Aizen should have quit while he was ahead, Don't copy to another site, Fake Karakura Town Arc, Fic in a time of lockdown, Former Tenth Division Captain Ichigo, Gen, M/M, One more captain was Hollowfied than expected, The Hollowfication went slightly differently, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: “Ain’t it obvious? We aren’tyourallies. We’re Aizen’s enemies – and Ichigo’s allies.”Yamamoto’s eyes slit open in something that can possibly constitute surprise, but Hirako has already vanished. “Shiba Ichigo’s?”That is not a name he has heard for a hundred years.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo/Coyote Starrk
Comments: 29
Kudos: 763
Collections: Hollow or Instincts Driven Ichigo





	Take Flight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gotcocomilk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gotcocomilk/gifts), [Raining Sky Guy (Sky_King)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky_King/gifts).



> #Fic in a time of lockdown
> 
> Inspired by the Villain of my Own Story exchange requests, and the fact that if you look at TBTP carefully, there doesn't seem to be a captain of the Tenth.
> 
> Initial dialogue is lifted directly from FKT arc. Also, yes, the FKT arc is really this ridiculous half the time...

_At the start…_

“You should watch your mouth when it comes to Aizen-sama, Baraggan,” Harribel warns. It is kind of her to remind Baraggan that the biggest threat to them is their own boss, but something as subtle as that is wasted on the self-proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo.

“And you should watch _your_ mouth when it comes to me, Harribel.” As his Fracción scramble to assemble his throne, Baraggan casts his fellow Espada a meaningful look. “Until the boss extricates himself, I’ll be the one giving the orders. And you’d best not complain.”

Coyote Starrk waves a hand nonchalantly. “I don’t really care.” What he cares the most about… isn’t here right now anyway.

* * *

_Later on…_

“A Garganta? Reinforcements?” Ukitake wonders, though his zanpakutō are held at the ready, just in case he gets ambushed. He doesn’t actually need to worry about that; but convincing them would be too _troublesome_.

“There are still reinforcements strong enough to back up the top three Espada? The idea is just absurd.” Kyōraku tilts the brim of his straw hat back for a better look. What little can be seen of his gaze is deeply troubled.

“Who… is that?”

“Looks like a mysterious stranger to me.” Kyōraku shields his eyes against the glare of the sun. “Wait, make that… two mysterious strangers.”

Coyote Starrk sighs. “You’re late,” he murmurs, too soft to be overheard by the two captains. He refuses to admit, not even under pain of torture, that the tone of his voice slants towards _relief_.

* * *

_Now…_

“Ain’t it obvious? We aren’t _your_ allies. We’re Aizen’s enemies – and Ichigo’s allies.”

Yamamoto’s eyes slit open in something that can possibly constitute surprise, but Shinji has already vanished. “Shiba Ichigo’s?”

One of the mysterious figures peels off, walking forwards without the aid of any speed-enhancing technique, as though to show he is not a threat. When he gets close enough to be audible, he raises a hand in greeting.

“Hey, jii-san.”

The newest captain of the Tenth Division makes a choking sound like he’s dying. He isn’t the only one either, several of the lieutenants seem to be doubling over in disbelief. Ichigo can’t imagine why.

“He calls the Captain-Commander _Gramps_ ,” one of them sobs. Ichigo decides not to examine that reaction too closely, lest their crazy is infectious.

He looks over when Shinji appears in front of him, at a distance that leaves him enough room to dodge but much closer than he would if Ichigo was an enemy.

“Yo, Ichigo. Never figured _you_ ’d join Aizen.”

Ichigo’s face scrunches up into an utmost expression of distaste. “Who _joined_ that megalomaniac?! Look at the mess he made of my division!” He pauses, and then nods in a commiserating way at Shinji. “Not as big as the mess he made of _yours_ , true.”

Shinji scowls back. “Then why are you wearing one of his all-white uniforms?”

Ichigo looks down at the Espada uniform he is wearing, plucking idly at the collar. It’s been so long that he has forgotten this is a symbol of Aizen’s design, not that he’ll actually tell Shinji that. “These are the only clothes you can get in Hueco Mundo; it’s not like I can regularly open Gargantas into the Transient World just to go shopping, okay?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the strawberry-blonde lieutenant of the Tenth begin wheezing.

“Don’t worry, you look good in white,” Starrk shouts over.

Ichigo gives in to the urge to facepalm. Starrk seems to have gone into Resurrección before Ichigo’s arrival, but both of his pistols are currently holstered. Ichigo doubts he thinks his opponents are dead, which means he has figured out that they will be hesitant to attack an opponent who seems to have no intention of fighting back. Ichigo will applaud him for that, right after kicking his ass to Hueco Mundo and back for actually dropping his guard to that extent in the middle of a fight.

Aizen or not, shinigami see it as their duty to _purify_ Hollows! And Ukitake and Kyōraku are amongst the oldest captains – it means that they have succeeded in killing everything that has ever tried to kill them!

“Right.” He claps his hands together. Best to get this ridiculous circus under control first. “Since what all of us actually really want to do is to kill Aizen, we don’t need to fight amongst ourselves. Starrk, Baraggan, Harribel?”

Starrk shrugs, gesturing at his already-holstered pistols.

“Why?” Baraggan rumbles. The lieutenant nearest to him, probably another Ōmaeda judging from his size, practically jumps out of his skin in fright. Ichigo resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. What has the Gotei Thirteen come to in the one hundred years he’s been away?

“Are you really satisfied taking orders from the _shinigami_ who has humiliated you, Baraggan?” he shouts back. “Does the King of Hueco Mundo have no pride left?”

Without waiting for Baraggan to answer, he turns to Harribel. She still looks frustrated, with good reason – when Ichigo arrived she seemed to be frozen in a column of ice. A careful survey of the battlefield reveals her three Fracción lying on the ground far below, their clothes singed and covered in soot.

 _Yamamoto_ had to step in? Nevertheless –

“They are not dead,” he reminds her. A Hollow’s corpse doesn’t linger after death; for them to still be here means they are still clinging to life. “Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain.”

Harribel visibly grits her teeth for a moment longer. “… yes, Ichigo-sama,” she finally acquiesces.

Ichigo turns to Baraggan, arching an eyebrow. He huffs, and then sits back down on his throne in apparent capitulation.

Well, that’s all settled. He turns back to Shinji, waving a hand. “ _The enemy of my enemy is my friend_ , right?” It was one of Shinji’s favourite sayings back when they were both captains.

“Why am I not surprised you managed to turn Aizen’s entire army into your allies,” Shinji wonders, shaking his head. “Only you, Ichigo.”

Ichigo shrugs, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s his captivating good looks,” Starrk deadpans.

Before Ichigo can formulate an answer to that, Aizen finally makes his move. “Shiba Ichigo,” he greets. “Long time no see. You appear to be well.”

The… sheer irony of _Aizen_ saying that… “As well as I can be after you Hollowfied me and left me for dead,” Ichigo retorts.

“And yet, you seem to have joined my Espada.” Aizen gestures at the uniform Ichigo is still wearing. Ichigo is going to have to burn all his clothes, damn it.

“ _Your_ Espada?” Ichigo snorts. “The Espada doesn’t belong to you. It’s just a group of the strongest Hollows in Hueco Mundo.” He tugs his collar aside until his shoulder is bare and Aizen can see the number inked into his right deltoid.

“Zero,” Aizen murmurs. “But Yammy is –”

“You actually believe _Yammy_ is the Espada Cero?” Ichigo scrunches his face up. “Just because the rest of us don’t care when he pulls that vanishing trick with his tattoo to intimidate newbies?”

“My loyal Espada have made no mention of your presence –” Aizen tries again, but Ichigo scoffs.

“You’re more powerful than them, which they respect. That’s why they respect me too. But the difference is, they all _hate_ you, so of course they’re not going to tell you about me. You have a real knack for inducing homicidal tendencies in people, Aizen.”

Case in point, the newest Tenth Division captain who looks ready to breathe flames – an impressive feat, given that his zanpakutō appears to be an ice type. “I didn’t come here to _talk_ ,” he growls. “I came here to _violently kill_ Aizen!”

“You can get in line!” Hiyori shouts back at him before anyone can say anything.

“We should go in order of when he fucked us over,” Ichigo points out, watching Aizen’s expression closely, “which means _I_ get dibs. I heard Kensei and Mashiro were sent out after I went missing, and you all went after them?”

Hiyori snarls something uncomplimentary about the state of his hair, and then lunges at Aizen without any warning.

“Hiyori!” Shinji shouts. He snags her by the back of her shirt and thrusts his own zanpakutō forwards, just in time to catch Tōsen’s blade before it can reach her. Hiyori curses again, but she doesn’t struggle as Shinji carries her out of harm’s way.

Tōsen chases after them, only for _four_ people to get in his way.

Kensei and Mashiro, Ichigo can understand. That guy who’s wearing the armband for the lieutenant of the Ninth, he can also understand. But who’s the… werewolf? His haori proclaims him as the incumbent captain of the Seventh, which is interesting. Ichigo wonders how Yamamoto got Central 46 to admit a non-human into the Gotei 13.

Maybe Ichigo isn’t the only one who has changed in this past century.

“Please allow me to assist, Muguruma-taichō, Kuna-fukutaichō!” the lieutenant shouts.

Kensei squints at him for a long, long moment.

“Sure.”

“How troublesome,” Ichimaru comments. He tries to take a step forwards, only to meet with both Rose and Love.

“I heard you’re the one who’s been messing around with my division,” Rose says shortly.

Ichimaru simply smiles in reply, his eyes curved into half-crescents.

With the two of them taken care of, that leaves Aizen, and…

“Starrk.”

Unlike his usual lazy self, Starrk appears beside him in a brisk flash of sonido. “Yes, Ichigo-sama?”

Ichigo gives him a side-eyed look at the unnecessary affix. “Can you keep Wonderweiss entertained?”

Starrk grimaces, but he himself knows very well he’s the best person around for the job. “Got it.”

“Aizen designed Wonderweiss to seal off Ryūjin Jakka,” Ichigo explains to everyone else. “However, he had to sacrifice Wonderweiss’ memory, intellect and reasoning skills to do so. Starrk can keep him occupied until the fight is over.”

“With what?” the captain with the spiky white hair demands.

Despite the situation, Ichigo cracks a brief grin. “Well, his equivalent of bankai is pretty flexible.”

They all turn to watch in morbid fascination as, in the distance, Wonderweiss gets buried by fluffy blue wolves. One of them even attempts to wag its tail like Yammy’s pet dog sometimes does. From past experience, Ichigo knows they're pretty nice to nap on.

“Never let Yachiru meet him,” one of the shinigami mutters.

Aizen takes a single step forwards.

The mood changes in a flash, but it doesn’t seem to help. No matter how they chip away at Aizen, they can’t seem to land a direct hit.

“What – _what are you all doing?_ ”

It takes Ichigo a moment to realise that apparently, Aizen has been using his shikai all along. And in that same moment, he finally sees the first troubled expression cross Aizen’s face this whole time.

“You, Shiba Ichigo – you are not subjected to my shikai?”

Is he? Ichigo looks around wildly, but everyone seems to be wearing the same befuddled look. That means… Aizen has _all of them_ under his control?!

It’s a good thing Baraggan didn’t decide to join in just now. They would all be dead if he had – but Aizen is now cutting down the remaining captains like he is swatting flies.

Ichigo dodges, whipping off a quick Getsuga Tenshō at close range, but Aizen simply side-steps it like he is taking a stroll. It’s increasingly looking like he may have to go into Resurrección, but if he does so…

“Do not hesitate.” Ichigo blinks, but his ears do not deceive him. Yamamoto is indeed standing next to him, dishing out… advice? “Dying to exterminate a great evil is the spirit of the Gotei 13.”

Ichigo begs to differ. “Well, I’m not a part of the Gotei 13 right now,” he points out, “and _I_ don’t believe in letting my friends and allies die!” He grips his zanpakutō, pointing it straight at Aizen. “Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!”

Aizen turns, but he’s too slow, finally too slow, and Zangetsu bites deep into his shoulder. From behind his Hollow mask, Ichigo grins fiercely. If he can bleed, he can still be defeated! It doesn’t even matter that Ichigo is the only one left – save for Yamamoto, and Baraggan some distance away – with everyone else out of the way, he can simply go into Resurrección to make up the difference.

Incongruously, Aizen begins laughing.

Ichigo scowls. He steps a safe distance away, Zangetsu at the ready. “What’s so funny?”

“Thank you, Shiba Ichigo, for being the catalyst of my final transformation.”

That… does not sound good.

Still cackling, Aizen pulls his top open, revealing the glowing orb embedded in his torso.

Yamamoto’s eyes snap open. “The Hōgyoku,” he intones. “You have fused with it.”

 _That’s_ the Hōgyoku, the source of all their troubles? “In that case, I’ll just destroy it along with you!” Ichigo draws in a deep breath, raising his zanpakutō to point at the sky. “ _Tobitate, Halcón peregrino!_ ”

It is said that a Resurrección is the Arrancar equivalent of a bankai, and therefore one cannot have both a bankai and a Resurrección.

Well, if Ulquiorra can have two Resurreccións, Ichigo doesn’t see why it’s so impossible.

The first swing of his sword sends a nearby building toppling, sliced neatly into half. Ichigo double-checks the area just in case, but there are no allies in that direction. If there are people hanging around whom he can’t sense, he assumes they’re capable of dodging.

“A peregrine falcon,” Aizen remarks with the passing curiosity of a scientist. “So you were able to block the effects of my shikai because of your nictitating membranes.”

“My… what?”

“The inner eyelids,” Aizen explains. Is it Ichigo’s imagination, or does he appear less nonchalant than before?

He blinks his… nictitating membranes… rapidly, setting the topic aside for the moment. If Aizen’s shikai requires sight to activate, it is no wonder that he chose to pull Tōsen to his side. And if Ichigo has an advantage over that, he’s not going to give it up. It’s not like rapidly blinking those membranes is a difficult task.

Preparations complete, Ichigo leaps high into the air and rockets down towards Aizen like a seeking missile, the tip of his zanpakutō aimed at the glowing orb in his chest.

His zanpakutō gets deflected, as Ichigo expects, slicing into Aizen’s ribs instead. Ichigo twists in the air to avoid Aizen’s own strike, pivoting off his blade to turn the stab into a horizontal slash instead. The bastard _bisected_ Hiyori, the least Ichigo can do is to return the favour.

The slice is deep, but not truly fatal. Ichigo scowls as he jumps back.

Instead of retaliating, Aizen peers down at his chest quizzically. “Not enough, hmm?” he murmurs, apparently to himself.

“Are you saying,” Ichigo says slowly, “that the Hōgyoku is supposed to trigger a transformation?”

Aizen smiles condescendingly.

“And let me guess. That’s why you tried to make Inoue Orihime reject it?”

The smile vanishes in a flash. “How did you –”

“Did you really think I’ve been wasting my time these one hundred years?” Ichigo interrupts. “I know your Hōgyoku isn’t complete. You spent so much time goading Inoue Orihime into using her rejection on it that it must be part of your plan, and I can even guess why. Her resolve is insufficient, so when the rejection fails, the Hōgyoku will be able to take on her reality-altering powers. It’s a simple matter to explain to her why she shouldn’t make the attempt and keep her away from the room.”

“Ulquiorra had orders –”

“Ulquiorra is an _Espada_ ,” Ichigo points out. “And _I_ am the leader of the Espada, not you.” He tilts his head, mentally calculating how much longer it will take him to charge up a full Getsuga Tenshō. “Why do you think it took me so long to arrive? I’ve been searching for it all over Las Noches. Since it’s not there, you must have brought it with you.” He grips Zangetsu’s hilt tighter, preparing to spring once more. “But with it still incomplete, can it really pull off the miracle you need right now?”

Scarcely has the last word left his mouth before he is in the air once more, Zangetsu swinging down in a wide arc. “Getsuga Tenshō!” he snaps, his zanpakutō scything through the air again and again, until Aizen is caught within a net of energy blades, all his escape routes sealed off.

Ichigo stands firm against the blowback of the attacks, using his nictitating membranes to protect his eyes from the dust and debris. Aizen hasn’t been bisected, but both his sword-arm and his abdomen are bleeding profusely, the expression on his face sliding towards disbelief.

Ichigo raises his zanpakutō again, but before he can unleash another wave of attacks, glowing red seals erupt from the ground, pinning Aizen in place.

“Ahh, they finally worked.” To the side, Shinji struggles to sit up from the rubble he is half-buried under, his torso covered in a healing kidō. “Stupid Kisuke, I applied those seals so long ago, but it’s taken them until now to activate?”

Ichigo relaxes, but he keeps his zanpakutō unsheathed and his attention on Aizen just in case. “Baraggan, can you destroy the Hōgyoku but leave him alive?”

Inoue Orihime may not have sufficient resolve, but the same can hardly be said for Baraggan Louisenbairn.

As the remnants of the Hōgyoku dissolve away, glittering like speckles of jewel-dust in the sunlight, Ichigo finally allows himself to relax.

It’s over. It’s really over.

He can –

“You can go home now.”

In lieu of looking at Starrk, Ichigo tips his head back to stare up at the sun and shrugs. He doesn’t even have to try hard to look nonchalant. “I don’t think Soul Society is my home anymore.” He may have been in Hueco Mundo most of this time, but he hasn’t been _completely_ cut off from all news. When Aaroniero arrived, he also brought some really depressing news about the Shiba family. To think everyone but Isshin-ji and Kaien’s siblings is dead…

Besides, even if he wants to go back to Soul Society, it’s not like he can bring Starrk there with him. Between Soul Society or Starrk, there’s no question which one Ichigo will choose in a heartbeat.

“But I’m also kind of sick of sand,” he muses aloud. Hueco Mundo, a pit of entertainment it is not. “Hey, Starrk.”

“Mm?”

“How do you feel about hanging around the Transient World for a while? Shinji says Urahara has really advanced his gigai research in the past century, so we can totally walk around without accidentally killing the humans. I also heard my Uncle married a living woman and named one of his kids after me, so we can drop by as well.”

When he risks a look to his side, Starrk is frowning, but in a way that suggests he’s intrigued instead of bored.

“I suppose… that won’t be too troublesome.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tobitate, Halcón peregrino = take flight (Japanese), peregrine falcon (Spanish). Peregrine falcons are fast, deadly, and have really rapid nictitating membrane movements. The diving attack Ichigo performs is their signature hunting move.
> 
> #in every universe Ichigo exists to mess up Aizen's plans  
> You can think of this as time travel!Ichigo if you like.
> 
> As for where Ichigo-junior is, because Ichigo-senior stopped all the Captain vs Espada fights, Aizen was defeated a lot sooner than he was able to make it from Hueco Mundo. In any case, Urahara was only planning to involve Ichigo-junior in the Mugetsu part of the plan, so the Garganta back to FKT was delayed too.
> 
> Find me on [Discord](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com)


End file.
